3267
by Slayer70
Summary: It is over a thousand years in the future and the world has been overrun by demons. There are only a few humans left. One witch decides that its time to call on the help of a former champion.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1

            The witch was seated in the middle of a ring of rocks. A candle was carefully place in front of her on the ground, the small flame moved gently with the breeze. The flame was barely enough to keep the large cavern lit, but it would do fine for her.

            She was chanting something, something in another language. One could only guess that it was a spell of some sort. She didn't need to read the spell from a book for she had memorized it in order for this special occasion. It wasn't as special as it was important. Her people needed help. They needed protection from those evil things. And the witch took it upon herself to find someway to get rid of them. She was the world's only hope.

            As she continued her chanting, she pulled out at small pendant. On it were mysterious carvings. She wasn't sure what they said for they were ancient. But she knew that this pendant was the key to bringing back the world's champion. She grasped the pendant in her hand. The pendant began to glow brightly as she chanted.

            She smiled for she knew that her spell was working. This spell would bring the world's champion back to the living. The champion had been dead for over a millennia now. Only a few knew about the accomplishments of this hero. They were written in very few texts around the world. These texts had been lost for centuries beneath the ruins of a few cities.

            The cities had been destroyed when the darkness overcame the world. The demons had destroyed everything, killed almost everyone. Few bands of humans were left in the world. These humans lived in small groups all over. They lived in small underground towns, hidden from the demons. But occasionally, the demons would find these towns and lay waste to them.

            The demons were commanded by the five Rulers of Darkness: Abduxuel, Clisthert, Nergal, Valafar, and Mantus. These five demons were the rulers of the world now. Each lived in a different palace in different parts of the world. They were almost invincible. They each had their own weakness which has never been discovered by any of the remaining humans.

            The cavern began to shake as soon as the witch concluded her spell. She glanced around the cavern, looking for any sign that the champion had returned. Within moments, the shaking subsided. The pendant flew from the witch's hand and stuck to the wall of the cavern. It began glowing.

            Suddenly, a skeleton fell out of the solid rock. It floated in front of the witch and landed on its boney feet. The witch didn't react to this at all. She just watched. Dust began to swirl around the skeleton, slowly at first, but quickly speeding up. Some of the dust hit the skeleton, slowly forming organs.

            Within a few moments, all the organs had formed. The veins and arteries formed next, followed by the muscle, and finally the skin and hair. The dust continued to swirl around the body. The dust finally subsided and left a lifeless body standing there in front of the witch.

            The pendant glowed again. This time a small orb of light flew from the pendant and into the chest of the body. The eyes of this newly formed woman shot open. She glanced around at her surroundings, very confused.

            "Where am I?" the woman questioned.


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

            "Where am I?" the woman questioned.

            The witch rose to her feet. She was very pleased that the spell succeeded. The only thing was did she know who she was or anything else about her. She would soon find out.

            "Welcome," the witch said, "My name is Grace."

            "Hi, I'm Buffy," the woman replied.

            "Yes, I know."

            "What's going on?" Buffy asked.

            "I've brought you back to the land of the living."

            "Why would you do something like that?" Buffy asked, ticked.

            She swung her fist at the witch. Without even thinking, Grace brought her hand up and caught Buffy's fist. She gave her wrist a twist and flipped Buffy to the ground. She landed on her back with a grunt.

            "We need your help, slayer."

            "Wait, you know who I am."

            "Yes."

            "What do you need help with?" Buffy questioned, standing.

            "Our world has been taken over by demons."

            "Oh goodie."

            "We need help taking back our planet. We want to reclaim it as our own."

            "What do you need my help for? I mean obviously you are strong if you just flipped me on my back."

            "From my research, you are the only human in the history of the planet skilled enough to take on these demons."

            "Wait, how many demons are we talking here?"

            "Well there are five god-like demons. They rule the millions of demons inhabiting earth."

            "Did you say millions?"

            "Yes."

            "You know, I don't think I'm your hero."

            "You are."

            "Sorry, but I'm not. Just use your magiks to send me back into the ground."

            "I can't do that."

            "Then I'll just live out my life once again."

            Buffy turned and walked towards the exit. Grace just stared off as Buffy disappeared from the cavern. Her plan had failed. Yes, she had succeeded in bringing back the champion, but she had failed in making her help.


	3. Chapter 3

Part III

            Buffy stared in shock as she left the cavern. She glanced around and saw everything. The red sun was covered by black clouds. The sky was no longer blue; it was dark orange and red. There was no grass or plants, only barren land. There were no people or animals around either.

            "Now do you understand why we need your help?" Grace asked, coming up behind her.

            "H-how did this happen?" Buffy asked.

           "Many centuries ago, five demons were released into our world. Since there was no one to protect it, they took over. The five demons gathered legions of other demons and began attacking our cities, killing off almost everyone."

            "What released them here?"

            "We're not sure. But it's obviously someone who is very strong with magiks."

            "You?" Buffy asked.

            "No, no," Grace chuckled, "This was way before my time. I'm just a young woman, only in my twenties."

            "You keep referring to 'we'," Buffy said, "Who is we?"  
            "I will show you, follow me."

            Grace turned and headed for a stairway that just seemed to appear in the ground. She went down them. Buffy stared in disbelief, but soon followed behind. Within a few minutes, Grace and Buffy came upon a small underground town.

            "What is this place?" Buffy asked.

            "This is my home."

            "But you live underground."

            "Yes, we were forced to. We needed to find a way to hide so we decided that the best place for that would be underground. There are many towns like this one and they are all hidden by magik."

            "Things sure have changed since I've been gone."

            "That's because you've been dead for a little over a millennia."

            "I've been dead for a thousand years! Are you kidding me?"

            "Not at all."

            That's when a loud siren resounded throughout the little town. People appeared at doors and windows, slamming them shut. Others, who'd been working, began running towards their homes. Something must be wrong.

            "What's going on?" Buffy asked.

            "Quickly, we must hide!" Grace shouted, grabbing Buffy's arm.

            Buffy pulled her arm away. She wasn't going anywhere without answers.

            "Not until you tell me what is going on."

            "We must hide before they break in!" Grace yelled, "We must go now before it's too late."

            She grabbed Buffy's arm once again and pulled her away. The two took off towards a small hole in the side of the walls surrounding the underground town. The hole was large enough for them to fit inside and small enough to stay concealed. Just as they crawled inside, a large demon burst through the magik field and into the town.


	4. Chapter 4

Part IV

            The demon growled loudly and stepped towards the buildings. Several other demons followed. They quickly spread out to all parts of the town. The demons were large and stood on two legs. They reminded Buffy of dinosaurs that she'd once seen in pictures.

            "What are those?" Buffy questioned.

            "They are Raptor demons," Grace replied, "They are extremely dangerous. They have heightened senses and are very smart."

            "I knew they reminded me of something," Buffy whispered.

            "Be quiet!" Grace whispered, "We don't want them to know we are here."

            The demons began attacking the buildings. They knew there were people in this town, they could sense them. One of the demons jumped through the windows of the nearest building. Buffy heard screaming inside and then the demon reappeared, carrying someone in its mouth.

            The demon tossed the person out the window. The man landed on his stomach. He yelled in horror as several more demons advanced on him. They were ripping the man to shreds. In a few short moments, the man was completely devoured. All that was left was his bones.

            "Are you just going to let this happen to all these people?" Buffy questioned.

            "Yes," Grace replied, "There's nothing I can do."

            Another demon broke the door of another building down. It reached in and dragged out two screaming woman by their legs. It tossed them through the air. Two other demons caught them in their mouth. The women were eaten alive just like the man.

            As quickly as the demons entered the town, they left. They had killed everyone except for Buffy and Grace. After they were sure the demons were gone, the two climbed out of the hole. Buffy stared in shock at the destruction of the town.

            "So you people just sit around and do nothing until these demons come in a kill all of you and then you once again do nothing?" Buffy asked.

            "I'm confused," Grace replied.

            "Nevermind," Buffy said, "The point is that you don't do anything to stop this."

            "There's nothing we can do," Grace told her, "Sure we have killed a few, but there are so many of them."

            "I'm sure that there are enough of you to fight back and cause some kind of dent," Buffy said.

            "I don't think you understand the number of demons that inhabit the planet."

            "I think I do."

            "Listen to me, slayer," Grace began, "The number of demons inhabiting this planet are equivalent to the number of humans that used to. If we formed a resistance, the moment we attacked, we'd be squashed like bugs. It'd be pointless."

            Buffy stood there for a moment, taking everything in. A full scale attack would definitely be pointless. That's when she came up with a plan.

            "What if we gathered some fighters and attacked small demon cities like they do to yours?" Buffy asked.

            "What do you mean?"

            "I'm talking we pick off small areas little by little," Buffy replied, "We do small attacks instead of full scale ones."

            "That sounds like a good idea," Grace said.

            "We'll then, let's get to work."


	5. Chapter 5

Part V

            Buffy followed Grace through the underground tunnels. She was amazed that these people were able to dig tunnels to connect their small underground towns. They sure had adapted well to the demon take-over.

            "So where are we going?" Buffy asked.

            "To my hometown," Grace replied, "It's slightly larger than all the other towns. We should have a good chance of gathering some fighters there."

            "Good," Buffy said, "Then we'll plan from there."

            After a good hour or so of walking, Buffy could see light in the distance. She assumed that the town was just up ahead. Grace was very pleased. Her plan had succeeded thus far, although there had been a few bumps along the way. Now she just had to hope that Buffy could get people to follow her.

            Grace had been right. This town was a little larger than the other. There seemed to be many more buildings and people. Buffy was surprised by the fact that there was a town square as well. Grace had told her it was the best place to make a speech. So she walked into the square and looked around.

            Everyone seemed to have something to do. This made her wonder if she should even bother. These people looked like they were content just doing what they already had been doing. Her thoughts began to shift towards the demons. There was no way she could let this world be controlled by them.

            "Hey everyone!" she shouted in her loudest voice.

            That got most people's attention. They stopped what they were doing to see what was going on. People wondered who this woman was. She was definitely different. She had power flowing from her body. And the people could feel it. They disliked people of power, thinking them as allies to the demons.

            They turned back to their work, ignoring her. Buffy stared in confusion when she saw this. She wondered what was going on. Then she turned and walked over to where Grace was standing.

            "Well that went really well," Buffy told her, "Why did they turn back to their work?"

            "They dislike people of power," Grace replied, "They came feel it flowing from you. I should have told you before."

            "Great," Buffy said under her breath.

            "I'm sorry."

            "It's all right," Buffy replied, "But how am I supposed to gather fighters if they won't listen to me?"

            "We'll go see my parents," Grace informed, "My father is the mayor of this small town."

            "Will he help us?" Buffy asked.

            "I'm not sure," Grace answered, "But it's worth a try."

            Grace turned and walked off. Buffy followed her.

            "Well this should be interesting," Buffy said to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Part VI

            Grace led Buffy through the town. At the edge of the large underground cavern, the two came to a large building. It looked very similar to every other building in town, but Buffy knew that it was much more important.

            "This is the mayor's house," she told Buffy.

            "It's pretty big," Buffy said.  
            "Yes," Grace replied, "It's to show that an important figurehead resides here."

            "Oh, I see."

            Grace walked up and knocked on the door to the building. After a few moments, an older woman answered the door.

            "Gracie?" the woman questioned, "Is that you?"

            "Yes mom," Grace replied.

            The woman embraced Grace in a large hug. It was obvious to Buffy that the two hadn't seen each other in a long time. Buffy didn't feel like dealing with a family reunion right now. She would rather have been out fighting demons. But she had no other choice.

            "What are you doing back here?" a man asked, stepping out of the building, "I thought I told you to leave and never come back."

            Grace broke off her embrace with her mother. Buffy assumed that the man was her father. She wondered what he was talking about.  Grace just looked at her father, with hatred in her eyes.

            _"So much for getting help,"_ Buffy thought.

            "Witches aren't welcome here!" her father shouted, "And you know that. For all we know, you could be a demon spy."

            "But I'm not," Grace replied quickly.

            "Honey, calm down," her mother said, "She's your daughter for Christ's sake."

            Her father turned his attention from his daughter to his wife. He looked extremely pissed at her now.

            "You say the savior's name," her father said, "And you wonder why he hasn't come to save us yet."

            He raised his hand and smacked his wife across the face. A moment later, he was on the ground with blood dripping from his mouth. Buffy was standing over him.

            "If you ever touch her again," Buffy said, "I will kill you."

            "Who the hell are you?" he asked, cautiously standing up.

            "Your worst nightmare," Buffy replied, glaring at him.

            "This is Buffy," Grace informed, "She's a warrior from another time period. She's here to help end the demon regime."

            Grace's father gave her a once over. He chuckled aloud.

            "What's this puny woman going to do, run away in fear?" her father asked.

            "Don't push it," Buffy said, still glaring.

            She had only been here for a few minutes and already hated this man. It was obvious that he had some female problems. Buffy knew that before this meeting was over, that this man was going to get hit again.

            "Is she going to fight them off with a nail filer?" he asked.

            That was the last straw. Buffy's fist quickly connected with his face. The man fell to the ground, bleeding once again.


	7. Chapter 7

Part VII

"I should have you arrested for that," Grace's father said.

"And I should kick your ass for what you did to your wife," Buffy replied.

The man slowly rose to his feet and glanced at the three women. None of them seemed too happy with him.

"Dad," Grace began, "She's the slayer."

Her father chuckled loudly.

"There hasn't been a slayer for over a millennia," her father replied, "Buffy Summers was the last slayer to ever walk the earth. She was the champion of the people before she died."

"That is her, Dad," Grace said, "That's Buffy Summers."

"In the flesh," Buffy added.

Her father glanced at her long and hard this time. That's when it hit him! She was the one from all the pictures he had seen. The champion was standing right in front of his eyes.

"Oh…my…goodness," her father said.

He looked at Buffy once more. It really was her. But how? It wasn't possible. She had been dead for over a thousand years. But now she was standing right there. It was a miracle.

The mayor got down on his knees and bowed to her. Buffy looked a little embarrassed. She wanted him to get up, but she didn't know what to say.

"Ladies and gentleman!" the mayor shouted, "The champion has come to save us."

The townsfolk stopped their jobs and looked in the direction of the mayor's house. They saw him bowing before a young woman. They rushed over and joined the mayor. Soon, the entire town was bowing before her.

Buffy didn't know what to do. No one had ever bowed to her before. It was like she was a god or something. Grace was the only one who wasn't bowing. She was standing behind Buffy.

"What do I do?" Buffy quietly asked.

"Tell them to stand up," Grace whispered.

"Stand up," Buffy said.

With that, every single person rose from the ground and stood before her. It was an amazing sight. The mayor stepped out from all the others. He turned around and addressed the entire town.

"This is our champion," he said, "our savior. She has been brought to free us from the demon lords. This is the slayer, Buffy Summers."

Everyone began to clap and cheer. Buffy wasn't really sure why all this was happening. It was very strange to her. Grace stepped up and whispered into her ear. Both knew it was the perfect time to ask for help.

"Excuse me!" Buffy shouted.

"She's speaking!" the mayor announced, "Be quiet!"

"All of you have been living your lives in fear for who knows how long. Don't you think it's time for that all to change? Aren't you tired of sitting here and letting them pick off your friends and family? You want to take back your planet, so do it! I can't do it on my own; I'm only one person. But I know that with your help, I can. Humans have always had remarkable strength and they never seem to give up. Or at least that's how it was last time I was alive. So show me that the race hasn't changed and that humans will never give up."

Everyone just stared at her. It was like they had no idea what she was talking about. She had expected them to all turn around and go back to doing their work, but they still stood there before her.

"So who's with me?" she asked.

That's when something amazing happened. Every hand in the crowd went up. Buffy hadn't expected this at all. She figured that just a few hands would have gone up, but this was incredible.

Buffy was satisfied. She had somehow convinced the citizens of this small town to fight. That's when doubt surfaced. She wondered if they even had the weapons to fight. She was about to ask them when she was interrupted by Grace.

"Come with me," Grace said.

"What about this crowd?" Buffy asked.

"Don't worry about them," she said, "My father will take care of them."

She grabbed Buffy by the arm, pulling her away from everyone.

"Where are we going?" Buffy asked.

"I have something to show you."


	8. Chapter 8

Part VIII

"What do you want to show me?" Buffy asked.

"You'll find out when we get there," she said.

Her grip on Buffy's arm tightened as they walked away. Buffy didn't fight to break free or even loosen the grip. She trusted this young woman. She trusted that Grace knew what she was doing.

Grace led Buffy on through the dirt streets of the town. They passed houses and other buildings as the walked. Eventually Grace let go of Buffy's arm. Buffy still followed her. She was very curious now. She wanted to know what was so important.

Finally Grace stopped walked when she came to the edge of town. The two were now standing at the wall of the cavern that the town was in. Buffy looked around, trying to figure out why they were here.

"Do you see it?" Grace asked.

"See what?"

"The hole."

Buffy looked around again. This time she noticed a small hole in the side of the cavern, level with the ground.

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"It's the holding place for the urn," she informed.

"What urn?" Buffy questioned.

"The urn of the champion," Grace told her.

"Champion?"

"When the champion was slain, their ashes were gathered up and placed within the urn."

Grace walked over to the hole and dropped to her knees. She reached in and pulled out a fairly large urn.

"How did you get this?"

"It was passed down from generation to generation until it was eventually given to me. I decided to keep it here in this hole in order to keep it safe," she told Buffy.

"Why did you want to show it to me?" Buffy asked.

"It is a part of the prophecy," she responded, "The prophecy states that when the Champion arrives, they will turn to someone for help. The ashes in that urn belong to that person."

"Who is this someone?" Buffy asked.

"That is something I am not sure of," Grace replied.

"Is it someone I knew in the past?" Buffy asked.

"It could be," Grace answered, "But again I don't know."

"Do I want help from this person?"

"That is not up for me to decide. That is a decision that the Champion must make."

Buffy was starting to get annoyed. Grace didn't have an answer to any of her questions. She decided that she was just going to go through with it. If she didn't like whoever it was, then she'd just kill them.

"All right," Buffy said, "Let's do this."


	9. Chapter 9

Part IX

Grace was pleased with Buffy's decision. She knew all along that Buffy would need help. Of course, she had to wait until Buffy had said yes before she could release whoever's ashes were inside the urn.

"So how exactly are we changing this person from being little flakes to flesh and bone?" Buffy asked.

"Oh…it's a simple spell," Grace answered.

"Simple for you," Buffy mumbled.

Grace just laughed.

"Do we have to go anywhere special for this?" Buffy asked.

"I'm going to perform the spell right here."

Grace sat down right in front of the urn, folding her legs underneath her. To Buffy it looked like she was meditating. Of course that didn't surprise her at all. She knew that it had to be done in order to perform most spells.

Buffy listened carefully as Grace started to chant. She was very surprised that Grace didn't even need to read the spell from a book. It seemed as if she had known this day would come so she memorized the spell. Buffy noted that the young witch didn't hesitate once while reciting the chant.

Grace's pupils began to grow. That was Buffy's first clue that the spell was working. She faintly remembered seeing this happen when one of her friends would perform a spell. Buffy started to wonder why she couldn't remember who this friend was. Come to think of it, Buffy couldn't really remember anything from her past. She faintly remembered a few things.

All those thought were pushed aside when a cloud of dust and ash rose from out of the urn. The cloud began to swirl, overtaking the urn and the witch. Buffy began to panic. Grace, however, remained calm. She had expected this. She could feel the power within the urn. It was an immense power, almost as strong as the power in the amulet she used to bring Buffy back.

The cloud of dust and ash continued to swirl faster and faster. Buffy shielded her face with her arm as she tried to see through the storm. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew her backwards into the wall of the cavern. She hit the ground with a thud. Looking up, she saw the cloud becoming larger and larger by the moment. She started to worry, hoping that nothing bad would happen to Grace.

Grace, from inside the whirlwind, looked on as a skeleton formed from the dust. Every time a strong gust hit the skeleton a new feature took form. First the organs formed, followed by veins and blood, followed by muscle, then skin, and eventually hair. As the dust subsided, the remaining features of the person appeared.

As quickly as the storm had appeared, it was gone. After realizing it was over, Buffy moved her arms away from her face. She slowly rose to her feet and looked ahead of her. There sat Grace, where Buffy had seen her last. The urn was in front of her. The difference was that there was a man standing before the urn.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted, "Where am I?"


	10. Chapter 10

Part X

"Where the bloody hell am I?" the man asked.

The man stood fairly tall and had a great build. His hair was blonde, perhaps bleach blonde, and his eyes were blue. He was dressed in black pants and a blue shirt. Over top the shirt, he wore a leather duster.

Grace rose to her feet. She smiled because her spell had been successful. She had succeeded in bringing another champion back to life.

"Hello," she said, "I'm Grace."

The man just looked at her like she was crazy. He was utterly confused and slightly ticked off. Buffy stood off in the distance, taking in the entire scene. This man looked very familiar, yet she could put her finger on it. She knew that she had met him before, but she couldn't remember who he was.

"Welcome Champion," Grace said.

"Champion?" the man asked, "What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

Grace didn't answer his question. That seemed to frustrate him even more.

"Do you mind telling me where I am, luv?"

"I can't give you an exact location, but I can tell you we are somewhere in what used to be known as Southern California," she told him.

"Oh," he said.

"Do you know why you are here, Spike?" she asked.

"What!" he exclaimed in disbelief, "How did you know my name?"

"I know everything about you," she told him, "You are a vampire with a soul. You died in battle with Angelus."

"What are you talking about?" Spike questioned, "Died in battle with whom? And who is Angeles?"

Grace was a little confused. Spike didn't seem to remember anything except for his name and that he was a vampire with a soul. It didn't make sense at all. Just then Buffy came walking over.

"Who is this?" Buffy questioned, "I thought he was supposed to be a champion."

"You mean you don't remember Spike?" Grace asked.

"Who?" Buffy asked.

"Who are you?" Spike questioned.

Buffy didn't answer him. The truth was that she really didn't like him. She couldn't believe that this was the person who was to help her. Grace was really confused now. Neither Buffy nor Spike remembered anything from their past or who the other was. It didn't make sense. It was like their entire long-term memory was erased.

"So you're the champion?" Buffy asked, "You don't look like one."

"What is with this word champion that you two keeping tossing around?" Spike asked.

"Well supposedly you are the champion who is supposed to help me restore order to earth," Buffy said.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about, luv?" he questioned.

Grace rolled her eyes. This was going to be a lot harder than it seemed.

"I really don't like you," Buffy said.

"And I don't like you either," Spike said, "I'm out of here."

And with that, Spike turned and walked off. Buffy didn't seem to care at all. Grace, on the other hand, was a little worried.

"This is gonna be hard," she said to herself.


	11. Chapter 11

Part XI

Grace and Buffy stared at Spike as he walked off into town.

"Aren't you gonna go after him?" Grace asked.

"No," Buffy replied, "If that's who I have to save the world with, then forget it. I'll do it myself."

"You can't do it alone," Grace said, "You'll be killed."

"I'm not alone," Buffy told her, "All those people volunteered to help fight."

"You think that they can help you?" Grace asked, "Well they can't. They'd just be a very small threat that the demons could easily squash."

Buffy didn't think about it that way. True, those people would definitely not be able to do much against the demons. Grace was right about that. But Buffy knew better than that. She knew that if humans wanted something badly, they could get it. And she knew that these people wanted their freedom back in the worst possible way.

"You need him," Grace said, "Even if you don't think so now. He will be a very valuable fighter in the battles to come."

Buffy sighed. She knew that Grace was right. She was probably going to need his help soon.

"I'll go," Buffy said.

She took off after him, running toward the town. Luckily he hadn't gotten that far into town. Buffy was glad because she didn't have to look for him. Eventually she caught up.

"Hey," she said.

"What do you want, luv?" Spike asked.

"Don't go," she said.

"Thought you didn't like me," he said.

"I still don't," she told him, "But I need you."

"Whoa there!" he exclaimed, "We only just met."

"Not in that way you pervert!" Buffy yelled, "I need your help."

"With what?"

"Look this world used to be a happy one," Buffy told him, "People used to live in homes above ground."

"Oh so that's where we are," he interrupted, "I was wondering why it was so dark and damp."

"Shut up!" she yelled, "These people want their planet back."

"What happened here?" Spike asked.

"Follow me," Buffy said.

She turned and walked off. Spike reluctantly followed. After a short walk through town, Buffy came to the door to the outside world. She walked through the magic barrier, Spike followed behind. The two stepped out into the outside world.

Outside was totally different than what Spike had remembered. The sky was of a dark red color. It was filled with black clouds that slightly covered the fiery sun. There was no grass or trees anywhere; the landscape was barren. They were only surrounded by several mountains and plateaus.

"What happened here?" Spike asked.

"The demons took over," Buffy responded.

"Demons?"

"Yes, the world is inhabited by all kinds of demons."

"But how did this happen?"


	12. Chapter 12

Part XII

"I'm not sure exactly," Buffy told him, "I was only told a few things. Five powerful demons were released into this world. Because there was no one to protect it, they just took over. They called together thousands of other demons and destroyed everything."

"How did they get here?"

"I don't know," Buffy replied, "Probably through some kind of magic."

Both were silent for a few moments as they took in their surroundings. Buffy still couldn't believe that all this happened. It was incredible and frightening at the same time.

"Who are you, luv?" Spike asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno," he said, "I feel like I know you from somewhere."

"You know, I have that same feeling," Buffy said, "You seem vaguely familiar."

"That's because you both knew each in the past," Grace said, coming up beside them.

"What?" they both questioned in unison.

"You've experienced many things together," Grace told them, "Don't you remember?"

_"Come on, Spike, let's go!" she said pulling his arm, trying to get him move._

_"No Buffy, go! Get out of here!" he replied, pushing her away. _

_She didn't leave his side. The cavern was collapsing all around them. She took her hands and placed them on Spike's hand. She held it tightly._

_"I love you, Spike," she said, her hands still holding his._

_"No you don't, but thanks for saying it anyway" he replied, "Go on, get out of here!"_

Buffy started to wince in pain. Her head was really starting to hurt. Her hands shot up and held her head and she doubled over in pain. The same thing was happening to Spike. Grace didn't panic though because she knew what was going on. She knew that their memories were returning to them.

Eventually their headaches subsided and they both stood back up. Buffy turned to look at Spike and saw that he was looking at her. They just stood there, staring into each others eyes.

"'Ello luv," Spike said, smiling slightly, "Long time, no see."

"Hi Spike," Buffy replied, "It's been a while."

"Yep," he said, "Only about a thousand years of lying in the ground or in my case, an urn."

Buffy smiled a little at that comment.

"Welcome back, slayer and vampire," Grace said, "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what, luv?" Spike questioned.

"For the greatest battle of your lives."


	13. Chapter 13

Part XIII

"What battle are we talking about?" Spike asked.

"We're leading a bunch of people into battle against the demons," Buffy explained, "They want to show the demons what they're made of."

"People?" Spike questioned, looking confused, "I haven't seen any people."

"They live in underground colonies like the one below us," Grace informed.

"They're not gonna be scared 'cuz I'm a vampire, are they?"

"No Spike. They know all about the vampires who have attempted to save mankind," Grace answered, "You are in our history books."

"I'm famous!" Spike exclaimed, "I've always wanted to be famous."

"Get your head out of the clouds," Buffy said.

He turned and smirked at her.

"You're just jealous," Spike sneered.

"Hardly," Buffy replied.

"Just admit it, slayer," he said, "You've never made it into any history books."

"She's in our books as well," Grace said.

"What!" Spike exclaimed.

"Hah!" Buffy said triumphantly and stuck out her tongue.

"Well at least I died honorably," Spike said, "Fighting off the Senior Partner's army was no easy task."

"I know," Buffy said, "I was there."

"What?" Spike asked, confused.

"The gang and I showed up with our army of slayers," Buffy went on, "We tried to get to you, but there was too many. By the time we killed them all, you were dead."

"Are you kidding me?" Spike asked, shocked, "You were there."

"Afterwards, the Senior Partners continued attacking us," Buffy continued, "After Angel healed, we fought side by side."

"That bloody wanker lived?" Spike questioned.

"The last thing I remember is getting ambushed," Buffy said, "We walked right into a trap. Angel and I held them off, but I was stabbed. I guess I blacked out and died."

Spike was amazed. He was surprised that Buffy and the gang had showed up to help him and Angel. He had wished that they had reached them in time. Perhaps they wouldn't have been in this situation now.

"We must get back to the city," Grace said, interrupting, "It's time to brief everyone on what will happen."

"She's right," Buffy said, "Let's go."

Buffy showed Spike where to go. As Grace was following, Buffy grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

"Do you know what happened to Angel?" she asked.

"I'm sorry," Grace said, "It is not known what happened to the other vampire. The last thing written about him was battle with the Senior Partners in the alley."

"Well it was worth a try," Buffy said sadly.

Grace and Buffy walked back into the cavern, trying to catch up with Spike. Buffy had wished that she knew what had happened to Angel. She wanted to know if he had fulfilled his prophecy or not.


	14. Chapter 14

Part XIV

"So what exactly are we gonna do, luv?" Spike asked, "It's not like there's only a few demons to fight. We've got a whole world full of them."

"I'm not sure, Spike," Buffy replied.

Buffy had dug herself into a hole; a deep one. Sure she had promised to lead the human resistance against the demons. She didn't have a problem with that. The thing she did have a problem with was how she was going to do it. She didn't have the slightest idea what the game plan was. She had been trying to figure something out for the last week.

"Okay, so the plan is to invade small demon cities, one by one," Buffy announced.

"We've gone over this so many times before, luv," Spike said, "It's getting old. We need a better plan than that. How are we gonna carry these attacks out?"

Buffy was beginning to get frustrated. Her ideas always sounded good at first, but right before she said them, she knew they wouldn't work. She would always arrive at the same point; about how they would attack small demon cities.

"I don't know!" Buffy yelled.

Grace and Spike were taken aback by her sudden outburst. They both realized what kind of stress she was facing. Her leadership would determine the future of the humans.

"Relax Buffy," Grace began, "We can't have you stressed out. It will affect your leadership skills."

"She's right, luv," Spike agreed, "A stressed leader leads to bad decision making."

Buffy knew they were right. She knew that being people would get killed if she didn't get her act together. But she couldn't relax; not with so much at stake.

"I need to go for a walk, clear my head," Buffy said, rising from her seat.

Spike and Grace sat there, watching her leave the building. Both of them turned to look at each other. Grace then gave him the look, signaling him to go after Buffy. He jumped up and quickly ran off after her.

Eventually he found the slayer. She was sitting on a rock, outside of the cavern, looking up at the dark sky.

"Buffy," he said.

She turned to look at him. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.

"I know this is difficult," Spike said.

"Do you?" she asked, "Have you ever led people into battle against horrible odds?"  
Spike didn't say anything.

"Didn't think so," she replied, looking back up at the sky.

"Okay so maybe I've never done something like this before," Spike said, "But I know what you must be going through. You're afraid. You're afraid that these people will all be killed and that it'll be your fault."

Buffy didn't add any commentary. She just continued to stare at the sky.

"Don't be afraid. These people trust you, Buffy. They know what you've done and they have faith in you. Grace has faith in you. If she didn't, then she wouldn't have brought you back. I have faith in you. So why don't you have faith in yourself?"

Buffy didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then she turned back to him.

"It's hard to have faith against these odds," she answered, "The world is overrun by millions of demons and I have a small army of humans."

"You've done it before," Spike told her.

"That was different."

"Not at all. You lead a small army of girls into battle against thousands of super vampires. You remember how that went," Spike continued.

"I won, but not without a cost," she added.

"There's always going to be some kind of cost, some type of sacrifice," he told her, "You should know that after going up against so many apocalypses."

"I don't know, Spike. I just don't know," she muttered, sounding defeated.

Her head hung down. She looked defeated, ready to give in.

"Don't give up!" he yelled, "You can't! They need you."

There was a short pause.

"I need you."

Buffy looked up at him.

"I love you, Buffy," he said, "And I always will. I need you to be strong. I can't do this alone. I need you."

Buffy was now staring deep into his eyes. She could see his soul, shining through. Spike stared back, deep into her eyes. There was something in them that wasn't there before. There was a fire in her eyes.

"Spike," Buffy said.

"Yes luv?"

But Buffy didn't reply. She moved in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Then she stood up and walked back towards the cavern.

"Thanks," she said, "I needed that."


End file.
